Messina kickstarts new CD

Friday, May 24, 2013 – Jo Dee Messina is going the Kickstarter route to record her next CD.

Messina will release a new full-length album with the people's help through Kickstarter.com. Fans worldwide can be a part of the "My time. Our music" movement that begins today.

"Now that I have the ability to make any record I want, I'd like to take a different route," Messina said. "I want to give the public a chance to be heard. This time I want to make a record with you, in addition to making one for you. Kickstarter is the perfect platform. It allows me to change the way things have traditionally been done in my career for years. It's totally exciting."

Messina's backers will be involved with every step that goes into creating and recording the album. They will be rewarded with exclusive content and one-of-a-kind opportunities. A $100,000 goal has been set to fund studio time, musicians, engineers, engineer assistants, production assistants, cartage, background vocalists, lead vocal recording days, overdubs, utility musicians, equipment rental, recording, mixing, mastering and more. In order to succeed, the goal must be reached within a 30-day period.

The singer's fans have been involved in the creative process by influencing which songs will make it on the album, via their input at live shows, Facebook/Twitter comments or Stageit reviews. Fans will also have the opportunity to vote on album artwork and even submit original pieces for consideration.

"This album is truly for you, the people who appreciate the creative process, as well as my amazing fans," said Messina, who previously was on Curb. "There's no question, I wouldn't be where I am today without your love and support. You've been with me since the beginning, and I'm in need of your support now more than ever. This album is a fresh start for me, and I want us to go on this exciting journey together."

On her Kickstarter page, Messina voiced displeasure with the label system. "I had a great run during my 18 years with them, but as with most labels, the songs chosen to make a record were always determined by someone else deciding whether they were a 'hit' or not. I would hear from the public what they'd like to see on my records and when I reported back, it seemed to fall on deaf ears."

CD reviews for Jo Dee Messina

Jo Dee Messina wears her defiance on her sleeve. She leaves no doubt what she has in mind on her new disc from the title (don't think of that as being egotistical) to the instrumentation where the first instruments you hear is the banjo to Messina's proclamation:
"I've paid my dues, gotten bent and bruised/I've walked a 1,000 miles in these shoes/I'm here and I'm well/I've felt the fire; I've been through hell/I'm a little out of breath/But baby »»»

If at first you don't succeed, your record company will punish you. That's what Jo Dee Messina learned in the past five years. What was one new album has now been converted into a trilogy of EPs to be released over the course of 2010 and grouped loosely by topic. This breaks the deadlock of Messina's wish to offer up all the new music she's been making against the business requirement of a monster hit. Messina's had a lot of those (nine number ones), so maybe it wasn't wholly unfair. »»»

Editorial: Walking the talk –
When names like Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Waylon and the Hag are invoked, you're talking hard core country. These are the touchstones of country , the guys who made country music what it was and still is (or maybe can be). When these folks would sing about being down-and-out and the rough-and-tumble, they knew of what they were singing about. Fast forward a few years to the country singers of today. »»»

Concert Review: Stapleton shows his traditional roots –
Chris Stapleton's All-American Road show feels like a singular mission to rid the genre of the bro country scourge that has plagued it for years. He came out with a blazing one-two punch of "Second One To Know" and "Without Your Love" and packed a stadium sized onslaught into a 9,000-seat arena. He never once veered from his... »»»

Concert Review: Jinks wins over fans, especially new ones –
Cody Jinks asked the crowd a bit into his show how many had never seen him before. It seemed like Jinks has made a lot of musical inroads into the public's consciousness because roughly three quarters of the audience raised their hands to show that this was their first time.
That probably made Jinks feel pretty darn good about how life has been... »»»

Eleven years ago, Kelly stepped away from music. She had just finished touring on 2007's exquisite "Translated From Love" and felt the angst of being a travelling musician with family at home. At that point, Willis and her husband, musician/producer Bruce Robison,... »»»

For a brief moment last summer, the news of Tony Kinman's death was, if not greatly exaggerated, then at least fortuitously premature. The roots rock icon, known for his work in The Dils, Rank and File, Blackbird and Cowboy Nation with his younger brother Chip, had been diagnosed with cancer in March 2018,... »»»

Until recently, Chris Shiflett took a somewhat obsessive/compulsive approach to his music career. For the past two decades, Shiflett has been the primary guitar foil for Dave Grohl in Foo Fighters; early in his tenure, Shiflett was so self-deprecatingly... »»»

With "Threads," Sheryl Crow gets the all-star-guest treatment on what she says is her swang song, with each song featuring a favorite fellow artist. She seems a little too young for this kind of tribute. Nevertheless, »»»

Midland is more magicians than musicians. When the trio came out with their omnipresent 2017 single "Drinkin' Problem," they pulled off their first trick: a brand-new band to radio who sounded like old friends. Their sound and their look (matador »»»

It's been 17 years since we've had a new album from Tanya Tucker, so it's a real pleasure to hear her clear throaty vocals deliver these songs with her characteristic raw emotion. Tucker knows how to get into a song and make it her own »»»

Eilen Jewell's "Gypsy" opens with the ominous, mysterious "Beat the Drum," which is a swampy - and yes, gypsy - song of warning about some impending doom or other. It plays out like a softer type of vintage... »»»

Rodney Crowell is a rare breed of a country songwriter. Yes, he knows how to write traditional country songs; it's just he's also a deep thinker, which requires extra effort on the part of the listener to appreciate them fully. »»»

Larry Sparks was still a teenager when Ralph Stanley chose him to replace his brother Carter Stanley as guitarist and lead singer in the Clinch Mountain Boys in the wake of Carter's passing in December 1966. »»»